Download Dual Nature of Light. Light Quanta

Dual Nature of Light.
Light Quanta
Photoelectric Effect
Photoelectric effect
• Ejection of electrons from
metal surfaces by photon
impact
• Minimum photon energy
(frequency) needed to
overcome electron binding PE
• Additional photon energy goes
into KE of ejected electron
• Intensity of light related to
number of photons, not energy
• Application: photocells
Explanation of photoelectric effect
Particle-like behavior
Quantization of energy
• Energy comes in discrete
quanta
• Used by Planck to explain
blackbody radiation
observations
• Particles of light = photons
• Detected in digital cameras
with CCDs (charge-coupled
devices)
Continuous Spectrum
Line Spectrum
Line Spectrum
Discovery of the electron
J. J. Thomson (late
1800’s)
• Performed cathode ray
experiments
• Discovered negatively
charged electron
• Measured electron’s
charge-to-mass ratio
• Identified electron as a
fundamental particle
Electron charge and mass
Robert Millikan (~1906)
• Studied charged oil
droplets in an electric
field
• Charge on droplets =
multiples of electron
charge
• Charge + Thomson’s
result gave electron mass
Early models of the atom
• Dalton - atoms indivisible
• Thomson and Millikan experiments
– Electron mass very small, no measurable volume
– What is the nature of an atom’s positive charge?
• Thomson’s “Plum pudding” model
– Electrons embedded in blob of positively charged
matter like “raisins in plum pudding”
The nucleus
Ernest Rutherford (1907)
• Scattered alpha particles off
gold foil
• Most passed through without
significant deflection
• A few scattered at large
angles
• Conclusion: an atom’s
positive charge resides in a
small, massive nucleus
• Later: positive charges =
protons
• James Chadwick (1932):
also neutral neutrons in the
nucleus
The nuclear atom
• Atomic number
– Number of protons in
nucleus
– Elements distinguished by
atomic number
– 113 elements identified
– Number of protons =
number of electrons in
neutral atoms
• Isotopes
– Same number of protons;
different number of
neutrons
Classical “atoms”
Predictions of classical theory
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Electrons orbit the nucleus
Curved path = acceleration
Accelerated charges radiate
Electrons lose energy and spiral into nucleus
Atoms cannot exist!
Experiment - atoms do exist
 New theory needed
The quantum concept
• Max Planck (1900)
– Introduced quantized
energy
• Einstein (1905)
– Light made up of
quantized photons
• Higher frequency
photons = more
energetic photons
Atomic spectra
Blackbody radiation
• Continuous radiation
distribution
• Depends on temperature of
radiating object
• Characteristic of solids,
liquids and dense gases
Line spectrum
• Emission at characteristic
frequencies
• Diffuse matter: incandescent
gases
• Illustration: Balmer series of
hydrogen lines
Bohr’s theory
Three rules:
1. Electrons only exist in
certain allowed orbits
2. Within an orbit, the
electron does not radiate
3. Radiation is emitted or
absorbed when
changing orbits
(quantum leaps)
Quantum theory of the atom
• Lowest energy state =
“ground state”
• Higher states = “excited
states”
• Photon energy equals
difference in state
energies
• Hydrogen atom example
– Energy levels
– Line spectra